My Beautiful Bride - Episode 12 (A ThisKicksAssCap)

There is no superhero who is a banker yet, is there? I think we need that in our lives, every day. And I need this drama to continue forever, because it just completely reinvented itself. Mr. Banker starts his revenge and there is nothing sweeter. Yoon-Mi gets to beat up guys and Joo-Young gets her power back as well. It's possible I like this new development even more than I liked Do-Hyeong as The Chaser.I sat there and said 'Wait, what? She's a what? When is this? Is this real?' for a few minutes and by the end I was grinning so hard my face hurt. This is awesome!

Episode 12

Branch Manager says to Kim Do-Hyeong: "Say hello to Seo Jin-Gi from Seryo Construction". Seo is slick as soap as he says "I heard a lot about you" and offers Do-Hyeong his hand. They "shake". Seo seems to have read our discussions because he says that Do-Hyeong is just like people say: a robot. And with that, Do-Hyeong is kicked out of the room again.The tension was so thick in that room I couldn't breathe. That was insane, and PERFECT. As soon as it happened I thought, 'Oh my God, YES...why did I not know this was coming? It had to happen!' Much credit to the writers for aaaaaaaaaaaaalways bringing it back around.

Something is puzzling him about the encounter (as it should!!!), but he does not get it immediately and he goes back to his desk. While Branch Manager gets to the sum that Seryo requests as loan (and shows quite a bit of distrust towards Seo), Do-Hyeong finally connects the dots between the guy in his boss' office and Director Seo who caused him so much trouble!That confused me, I'll admit. The scene was so tense I thought for sure he knew, but he really didn't. And then when he figured it out, he refrained from cutting off his hand or boiling it in bleach. So proud of the restraint!

He storms out of the office and calls Yoon-Mi. Mrs. Cop has just discovered that another file went missing, this time from her computer, when the call reaches her. Do-Hyeong says nothing but puts his phone into his jacket pocket. (SO. SMART.) Just in time! Seo steps out of Branch Manager's office and Do-Hyeong gets really close to Seo ... can he control himself? He has his hand in a fist and it is shaking ... but then, he extends it, claiming he wants to introduce himself a second time. They shake hands again, but this time, Seo knows Do-Hyeong knows - and vice versa.I love the smell of testosterone crackling in the air, don't you? So energizing!

And then, Kim Do-Hyeong offers to walk their esteemed guest to his car. Not a word is exchanged in the elevator and in the parking garage, but when Seo Jin-Gi says that Do-Hyeong has accompanied him far enough and DH just stands there and looks at him with scary killer eyes, Seo Jin-Gi taunts him by saying he heard a sad rumor: "Something tragic happened to your fiancée?" OMFG. Do-Hyeong's whole face starts shaking, and fuckhole Seo adds "Sorry, I didn't want to upset you" and "I pray that she may rest in peace". At that point, Do-Hyeong has his composure back (probably because he thought about the most brutal way to kill this guy, like me) and thanks the gangster, seemingly calm. That asswipe of a limp-dicked lying snake in the grass fucktard. His mother should have made him eat rotten eggs.

Seo Jin-Gi is driven away (he is smirking, the asshole) and as soon as he is out of sight, Do-Hyeong sprints to his own car and follows him. ... and he talks to Yoon-Mi on the phone, who is in her car after hearing everything, following them as well. Do-Hyeong has reached a parking garage now and who is there to welcome Director Seo? Janggab! Yoon-Mi warns Do-Hyeong to just pass by and once again showing extreme willpower, he manages to do that.So now they know where 'the office' is? Couldn't they have just followed the smell of grilled human?

Well, Seo is a tiny little bit disturbed by the encounter after all. He finds it weird that Bank Guy is working even though his bride died, he tells Lee El. In this country, when someone dies everyone in their family immediately quits their job and lies down to starve to death. sn't that how they do it everywhere? But she thinks there's nothing to it, he cannot really follow her into death, can he? They're both fairly happy about the new stage of gangsterdom they have reached after ten years (i.e. staring construction) because it means they can stop selling people for that insurance fraud. That stuff? Seo passes it on to Janggab, who seems honored and awed.And quite frankly, undeserving. What task has he successfully accomplished yet in this drama? In addition to just being a general shit stain of a human being, Seo is a terrible people manager. *sniffs in disdain*

Yoon-Mi has joined Do-Hyeong in his car now, but the poor guy is extremely upset and scared for Joo-Young again. She calms him down a bit and while he wants to dig deeper into the shady finance stuff (he is keeping very quiet about it), she will observe the gangsters, whose location they now have, to get evidence for a proper arrest (they're a bit dumb, those gangsters. Did they really not realize they were followed?). Oups. CCTV!! With Yoon-Mi on it. Nooooo, you're dumb too!!! Why would you two meet in THAT parking garage?It was Friday night, the writer needed to get home for his kid's birthday party. I'll let it slide. But yeah, the whole following thing, it was not well-considered.

Well, the gangsters move out so that Yoon-Mi can't follow them and Seo calls Judas (who seems to be unaware that deleted files can be restored from a hard disk as Detective Oh just did) to tell him he better get that Lady Detective of his way, or else she may turn up in several pieces or, alternatively, as his bed fellow. Maybe it's time to choose a side now, Judas Park?I assumed they were going to drag her into that van, didn't you?

Another meeting with Chairman Kang, another meal is prepared: grilled eel. Pretty cool and secretive animals, Kang comments. Not like people who always want to show off. It seems Seo Jin-Gi has been taking the medicine Kang gave him (uh-oh) and feels better thanks to it, at least in the mornings. He reports that they have collected a loan sum of 120 billion won in total. Kang finds that a bit disappointing. haha, that's like 120 million?! And then, he tells Seo Jin-Gi to remember the eels ... Seo Jin-Gi, whose real name is Lee Ki-Soo. He should live under that name soon, as bank manager, as he wants to.I must confess that the dramatic tension of that moment was a bit lost on me. Why wouldn't he expect that Tracksuit (his boss) would know his real name?
Hahahaha, I was "uhm.... so what?" indeed. Seo Jin-Gi, Lee Ki-Soo ... who cares! But I guess the eel-thing was about keeping secrets, which Seo tries - but obviously can't.

On an empty parking garage rooftop, Seo Jin-Gi has a secret meeting with ... Secretary Kim. Oh boy, that is still going on?! Kim seems to be under the impression that Seo Jin-Gi owes him everything (and clearly hates his guts) - but he wants more than just words of thank. There's a secret account that belonged to Song Hak-Soo - and Kim wants half of it. But Seo tells him to be patient: or else, both their guts will be spilled. Kim does not seem to care much about that: he wants that money. Now.What, does he think that first to tattle will be safe? He'll be just as dead as Seo if he opens his mouth. That fool.

Do-Hyeong is back at the bank and Branch Manager tasks him to finalize the loan process for Seryo Construction. But Do-Hyeong is not one to just do what he is told: he actually warns his Boss about inflated prices and crappy promises from a ghost company. Branch Manager just gets angry and agitated and does not want to listen. Oh you stupid fool...Do you think he understands the true nature of his bedfellows?

Debrief with Banker friend in the coffee kitchen. Oh, so Seryo is part of a whole gang of fraudulent construction operators. What can they do? Well, audit. Haha, I love this! Do-Hyeong goes to Seryo HQ and asks after Director Seo - but he is not in the building. There is a separate headquarter. In Manila. LOL. Do-Hyeong wants to leave again, frustrated, when the elevator door open and out comes ... I'll be damned. Their lawyer/secretary.He is one nice looking man. We have not paid enough attention to Lawyer. Sorry though, no one is listing him in the cast and I can't remember what I saw him in before to cross reference.
Yeah, I did mention him before in the recaps. His name is Lee Moo-Saeng and I know him from TEN2. And you probably know him from Cruel City, where he was a dirty cop and got in contact with White Pants of Sex.

Well shit. Time for some family time, perhaps? He meets his mother at an otherwise deserted café. She is mainly concerned about his health, as any mother would be, but he is ice cold when he asks how deeply involved she is with Seryo Construction. And he accuses her of manipulating the law for the illegal stuff to become legal. Which she denies. "Stop your involvement", Do-Hyeong says. Or he'll make her stop. "What a cold kid", she mutters bitterly once he has walked away.Which I thought was an odd response as her only comment. Her son has discovered that she might be involved in illegal activities, and she's not concerned that he will think badly of her, or feel worried, or anything. All she thinks is that he's cold?

Yoon-Mi is waiting for backup (from my favorite Detective Han), but it seems Park Hyeong-Sik is obstructing it. In fact, he is there himself - and asks her urgently to leave with him right now. Judas cover: blown? No, not quite: he pretends that this is his case. Still, she feels very betrayed. And he is very much scared to lose her (and that is genuine). The Chief orders Yoon-Mi to let go of the Shadow business completely as well (but there's still that insurance-missing person link). And Park tells Lee El to pass on to Seo Jin-Gi that he will kill him if he harms Yoon-Mi.I am very much looking forward to getting to the bottom of his story. Don't you think this drama does a good job of keeping us wondering about quite a large number of secondary characters? Not wondering in a negative way, either. I call that good writing.

Bromance time! Do-Hyeong wants to find out about the top guy. Tae-Gyu confirms that loan sharking is organized like a pyramid, which makes it so vicious. Each person is loyal like a dog to the one above him. And it so happens that Tae-Gyu saw Top Dog's face. The Chairman who fed him meat. A real chairman. And how to get closer to this guy? Loan sharking. Do-Hyeong needs to get to know that business. So wait, then. Tracksuit fed Tae Gyu meat. Is that who he's talking about? For some reason I thought that he was talking about someone higher than Tracksuit.
I think Tracksuit is it. He is Top of Top.

Elsewhere, an elegant lady walks into a restaurant, flanked by two body guards. It's Joo-Young, looking fierce and powerful. She is here to meet a guy and he is here to meet with S Loan Shark. To threaten her - she is invading his territory. She offers him money, but he does not want it. She does not flinch when he draws a knife. Not one bit. She even urges him to stab and kill her: she hates living anyway. He leaves after that, calling her a lunatic, but this is not the end of it.I do not get the logic of 'kill me anyway' scaring off the other guy, but it always works in movies and dramas. If you need to kill them and they don't care if you kill them, why do you not kill them?
Cause you just threatened them to get something else? Once they're dead, you won't get it.

Park Tae-Gyu (looking well kempt and orderly) is leading Do-Hyeong to his rough rival nicknamed Hammer Head. Do-Hyeong bascially storms into the office and knocks everybody out within seconds. Hammer Head is the guy that Joo-Young just met. He is mighty scared of Do-Hyeong - but Sexy Banker wants to do business. Of the loan sharking kind. It's pretty funny, that bit where he thinks Do Hyeong is the body guard and he runs through all these really tough organizations where he might have learned his skills, only to find out that Do Hyeong is the guy who wants to do business. But that's right, gangsters: Banker is the baddest ass of all.

This is how it will work: Do-Hyeong will give Hammer Head money, as an investment. I do see that this could make one very rich very fast. Maybe I should consider it too? Anyway, Do-Hyeong casually drops the name "Jeonju" (is that Chairman Kang? I am not sure).Isn't Jeonju a place? I know it's a person, but I mean that they are calling a person by the name of a place, probably the place where the person is located.
He will not replace him. But give Hammer Head extra money on top. His interest rates: the same as bank interest rates. Hot DAMN, I still want that extension! I want ten episodes of Do-Hyeong getting into this dark, twisted world, getting all dark and twisted himself.

Park Tae-Gyu seems genuinely concerned about Do-Hyeong (and of course for himself), but Do-Hyeong's mind is set: this is how he will get revenge for Joo-Young. Use Hammer Head, get to the shadows and destroy them all. And he does not care one tiny little bit if it costs him his life. As they stand there in a dark alley, Janggab / Jo Su-Nam makes an appearance to visit Hammer Head. Oh boy. A girl is given to Janggab and money is given to Hammer.Oh boy.

Do-Hyeong goes after the car with the girl and informs Yoon-Mi about it. She in turn goes after him right away ... and Judas Park heard. Yoon-Mi meets Do-Hyeong in an abandoned warehouse kind of place (I like how he steps out of the shadows ... he really looks like a criminal). He is always super gruff with her - or is this how he is to everyone? They disappear, Judas Cop arrives. Upstairs, there's a whole nest of shadows. Including Janggab who is playing minigolf in a room full of four frightened girls.He doesn't even let them play! But seriously, how did they find this place? (Do-Hyeong followed the car again!) They had no idea where Seo was, but they know where he keeps the merchandise?

Yoon-Mi (I love her for this!) just walks across the empty hall. Janggab gets a call and ushers his guys out with "the items". Yoon-Mi goes up the stairs ... and takes on two of the guards. When she gets to the backroom, she is too late! The girls are gone and so is Janggab. They're in the parking garage! And then, Do-Hyeong steps out of the shadows and says "It's been a while".For me, it's as good as 'Go ahead, punk. Make my day.'

He beats up the underlings and soon, it's just him and Janggab. Who still stands no chance against him. You know what? Do-Hyeong could be Top Dog in no time if he wanted to. Just when he is about to administer the KO blow, a car arrives. It's Judas Prick. What a damn spoil sport! Yoon-Mi comes running (it took her a while to find her way down to the garage) and Park has no choice but to handcuff Janggab. Yoon-Mi is pissed that he is there (she thinks it's her case!), but Park insists it's his.So, what? He'll arrest them, then somehow lose them? Like she won't notice that nothing is happening back at the station? Jeez.

Janggab gets to ride in Detective Park's car ... how nice. Seo pressures him into releasing "his guy" (by threatening Yoon-Mi again) and therefore, Park stages an accident. Janggab walks free and Yoon-Mi gets to run to the emergency room again, this time for her traitor boyfriend. Who simply walks out behind her back, ashamed.Come on, dude, just how low do you have to sink before you decide to man up and do the right thing here? She loves you! Spend ONE DAY being worthy of it.

After that, another secret meeting in the dark between Yoon-Mi and Do-Hyeong. She informs him that Jo Su-Nam walked free due to an accident. But Do-Hyeong does not seem to care too much ... this whole thing has confirmed something. She is always a step too late and cannot catch them. Why? Because somebody close to her is feeding the bad guys important information. She has to take care of that. She does. Step No 1: following her boyfriend in secret. Seeing him enter a bar. Crying. Even before seeing who is with him in that bar.I don't want her to go through this, I really don't. She's pretty useless but I like her so much.

Hammer Head is on the phone with Joo-Young, who promises him half the interest she gets from his old clients. They agree to meet: and Jin-Sook is there with her in the car, nodding her approval. It's all gone according to plan.NOW this makes sense. At first I was horribly, horribly confused by her appearance and behavior.
Hammer Head is happily humming (and playing mini golf), when Janggab comes in and starts beating them all up. Joo-Young goes up the stairs. Luckily, one of the gangsterlings is thrown outside, warning her of what is going on inside, so she can hide. Janggab confirms that Bank Guy came to see Hammer Head and leaves with a look of evil determination on his face.

Bank Guy is in his own parking garage, when a young woman comes riding her bike and crashes into him. He bends down to help her. Behind him, Janggab steps out from behind a pillar, knife in hand. He pulls his hand back to strike when a black car approaches quickly - and rams into Janggab. The trunk is opened. It's Joo-Young in the car. Protector of Bank Guys. Goddess of Loan Sharks. Oooooh, I like this! Extension! Extension!

Comments

Not enough time, not enough time! Only four episodes to go and so much interesting stuff to explore! We're down one guy now (I'm pretty sure Janggab is done now), but there are two more to go. And Do-Hyeong hasn't even met Chairman Kang yet! I know several people have wondered whether Tracksuit Gangster might be Do-Hyeong's dad (probably No 1 rather than No 2) and that is a possibility, but not a necessity in a drama such as this one. Let's see! In a more makjang-y fare, Seo Jin-Gi would be Do-Hyeong's lost brother, his mother would be Top Dog's wife and everybody would somehow be connected since birth. His mother's connection to Seryo could be coincidental in the sense that she is one of the most powerful and rich persons in Korea, having her fingers in all kinds of legal and illegal things.Judas Park is her oldest child, thrown away when she was young, unmarried, and poor. He hates Do Hyeong because he was raised as a precious heir, but of course Do Hyeong has no idea about any of this.

I liked that Yoon-Mi got marginally more interesting in this episode, even though she still remains criminally underdeveloped as a character. We have said it before, but it's not helping that Lee Si-Young plays her in a dull way, always giving us a frowning and sighing phlegm.I do not get it. Not at all. She's such an interesting actress usually! And she's not bad here, but the character is just so lacking and she's done nothing to add to it other than ensure that she's not unlikeable.

We've been waiting for something else on Lee El for many episodes too, but I guess it's not coming.If that's the case, if all these interesting stories aren't given to us, I will fault the writer for not planning properly. Clearly it was intended that we would have the information, and if he runs out of time, then that's on him.

Joo-Young on the other hand ... she remains the most interesting female character. She has fully given herself up to the dark side and I must say, it becomes her. Whether it's true that she craves death or not, she finally seems to have gotten rid of her insecurities. She can rise and she can have power - she does not need to feel useless and like a waste. I hope she realizes this. The old Joo-Young is dead and this is that new life she has always talked about - unless she wants a third after this. If this is it, I hope she stays a gangster lady. Of course she won't, but it would be awesome. Beautiful Banker and his Beautiful Gangster Bride. Oh but I do not at all think that this is what she is doing. She is doing this to destroy them, but not so that she can have the business - just because she needs to destroy them. You think she's doing this sincerely?
No, I think we will get an ending with an entirely new her (maybe a highly sccessful financial advisor or something). And that new her will meet Do-Hyeong again and they'll do the whole "I've never met you before"-thing again and will live happily ever after.

(Btw, there is something I don't like: that Do-Hyeong is keeping Mi-Sook's certain death from Park Tae-Gyu. I understand he has to to get what he wants, but it's morally despicable)It is, you're right, but it's also not CERTAIN yet.

Here two of my own gifs because OCN is a mean tease (and never showed us these scenes yet) Don't mind me here, just drowning in my own drool.